Filet Mignon with Sherry Mushroom Sauce

Last Updated on August 29, 2020 by Melissa Reome

This post is sponsored by Omaha Steaks.  Rest assured, all opinions are my own.

There is a restaurant in about 30 minutes from my house in Binghamton, NY by the name of Cortese which has a dish that I’m quite fond of.  It is a quaint no frills Italian restaurant which was founded in 1947.  The dish named “Tenderloin Tips ala Cortese” is a family recipe. Tenderloin chunks sautéed with celery, mushrooms, peppers, onions, seasonings.  It is finished with a touch of cream sherry per their menu. This was the inspiration for me to create my filet mignon with sherry mushroom sauce recipe.

Sometimes I’m a creature of habit and I will find something I love on a menu and order it time and time again.  This is one of those meals.  A baked potato with butter, a house salad with garlicky salad dressing and I’m a happy girl.  It’s not that I’m afraid of trying new things, I just don’t want to be disappointed and have ordering regret.

Sometimes if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself..

Now, If I am being honest, I absolutely love the sauce that these tenderloin tips are served in.   However, if  I order them medium rare, they often are overcooked.   Likely that is because of the inconsistency in the size of the actual pieces of meat.  I’m guilty of not sending them back but I really hate eating my meal after everyone else does so in some cases, I just eat it regardless.  If it was a fifty dollar steak however, that would be a different story.

I wanted to be able to make that sauce at home but instead of tenderloin tips, use a whole piece of filet mignon that would be cooked perfectly.  Slicing into a medium rare filet with this sauce that I could make at home would bring me great joy.  My only regret is that I didn’t attempt to re-create this recipe sooner.

How can I improve upon this dish?

At the restaurant, the tips are served in a substantial amount of sauce with large mushroom and celery pieces.   Honestly I don’t remember seeing pieces of peppers the multiple times I have ordered mine.  That might just be because they are creating the sauce in larger batches and I didn’t get any.  That doesn’t hurt my feelings as I love that the flavor of the bell pepper isn’t overwhelming.  In contrast, it accents the other flavors to create this taste which had me always going back for more.

In my version, I leave the mushrooms cut into large pieces, but cut the peppers and celery into a fine dice so there are not large pieces in the final dish.  I wanted the filet and mushrooms to be the star of this show but be able to get a bite of the other ingredients in the sauce.  I chose a 10oz Omaha Steaks Private Reserve filet mignon.  Their Private Reserve filet is aged at least 28 days and has the highest amount of marbling of all of their filets.  They have many options depending on the size steak you prefer such as the Butcher’s Cut filets ranging from 4oz to 10oz and their Triple Trimmed filets ranging from 4oz to 6oz steaks.

To grill or not to grill

This filet mignon recipe can be make indoors or outside on the grill.  Get all of your ingredients prepared before you start cooking because this meal comes together really fast.  It is a meal that tastes like it came from a great steakhouse.  My preference would be have a baked potato on the side with a seasonal vegetable like green beans or brussel sprouts.   Trust me, once that aroma hits your nose, you won’t be able to wait to dive in.

Want more great steak recipes?  Check out my recipe for Ancho Chile Rubbed Top Sirloin here.

Filet Mignon With Sherry Mushroom Sauce

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Beef, filet mignon, tenderloin

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Resting time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Melissa Reome

Equipment

• Skillet (such as stainless steel or carbon steel)
• instant read thermometer
• Stove, Oven or Grill

Ingredients

• 2 10 oz Filet mignon (or desired size steaks)
• 1 medium Shallot minced
• 1/2 Bell pepper any color, small dice
• 8 oz Mushrooms white button or baby bella
• 1/2 stalk celery small dice
• 2 tbsp butter unsalted
• 3/4 cup dry sherry or cream sherry do not use cooking sherry
• 1 cup chicken stock may substitute chicken broth
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme leaves removed from stems
• 1 clove fresh garlic minced
• 2 tbsp ghee or oil such as extra light olive oil, canola (for searing steak)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Remove steaks from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to cooking. Season liberally with kosher or sea salt on both sides. Allow steaks to come to room temperature. Pat surface of steaks dry with a paper towel prior to searing.
• Heat grill to high heat or approximately 450F. Once grill is up to temperature, place skillet in grill and allow skillet to heat thoroughly. If cooking indoors, pre-heat skillet to medium-high heat. Add oil for searing once skillet is hot and carefully place steaks in skillet and sear for a couple minutes or two until nicely browned on both sides. Only flip the steak once. If the pan does not sizzle nicely when you put the steak in, it is not hot enough. Remove steaks from skillet. You will use that skillet for the sauce.
  
• If finishing steaks in the oven, place steaks in a pre-heated 375°F oven and cook until approximately 10-15 minutes or until 5°F shy of desired finished temperature. Finished temperature for med-rare 130-135°F, medium 140-145°F, med-well 150-155°F, well done 160°F. For example, if you desire a med-rare steak pull at 130F because the temperature will rise during the 5 minute rest period. If cooking steaks on the grill, finish cooking the steaks in the skillet first, then set meat aside to rest (tent loosely with foil) and keep warm while using the same skillet to make sauce.
  
• In the same skillet you seared the steaks add butter and sauté celery first as that takes the longest to cook. Cook until it is tender. Add peppers and sauté until tender. Add mushrooms and cook until lightly browned and most of the water has evaporated. Add shallots and garlic then cook until transluecent approximately 1 minute. Add sherry to skillet to deglaze pan. Stir to scrape off brown bits on bottom of skillet into sauce. Add chicken stock. Continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
  
• Make cornstarch slurry to thicken sauce. Miix 1 tbsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp of COLD water until thoroughly incorporated. Push vegetables in skillet to one side and add one-half of slurry to liquid and whisk . Stir into rest of skillet ingredients. Cook for 1 minute until sauce thickens. If sauce is not thick enough, add a bit of the remaining slurry. You want the sauce to coat the back of a spoon, not be thick like gravy.
  
• Place steak on a plate and serve with sauce on top. Serve immediately.
  

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Notes

Cook time will depend on the size of the filet mignon or other cut of steak you cook.  I highly recommend using a quality instant read thermometer such as a one from Thermoworks.  Measuring the internal temperature of meat when cooking is the most accurate way to get a consistent result every time.

 

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